Don was helping Maple work on a leaky roof when all of a sudden, he heard his sister calling out to him.
"Hey Don! Which one do you like better!?" Don stopped what he was doing and looked down and see Maryline holding two different outfits. Don contemplated before pointing to the red one on the right. Maryline looked at it a little confused.
"Why does everyone want me to wear this one?" She said out loud. Don laughed.
"Its because red suits you very well." Maryline did not think about it too much before leaving to leaving to continue packing for their trip.
Tomorrow the Finch family plus Teacher Zen would be heading to Vernia City.
Elijah and Don had already graduated with the rest of miss Spencer's class. Many of the graduated children had been planning to stay and help their family business. Only a few determined people wanted to try out for the yearly adventure academy exams.
Other than Maryline and Elijah, another boy was also planning to try out for the Crescent borne academy exam. He was not that close to the fire siblings since he had just moved in a few months ago with his family.
When Don had finished helping Maple with the roof, she had asked him to come over to her house for a bit. Don, having already packed his bags for the trip decided to follow Maple home.
Once they arrived at her shop/house, Don noticed that Solomon was there waiting for them. He looked a little more serious than usual as he was carrying his daughter in one arm and a forging hammer in another arm.
Don knew by the way Solomon has acting that he had something serious to say.
"Solomon is there something wrong?" Don asked a little worried.
"hmm nothing wrong per se. I know that you have just finished comprehensive schooling am I right?" Don nodded unconsciously. He had skipped a few grades because the content he was learning was not as useful as the library. He had long learned all the things he needed to finish school and only took the final year out of courtesy.
"Now I know you are still only 12 and you have many years before you need to decide on what you want to do in the future but, I just wanted to hear what you are possibly thinking about." Don thought about this deeply. He had never really thought about what he wanted to do after school. He had always thought he would stay behind and help his family business but in the last few months, so many things have changed.
Solomon smiled as he saw Don really thinking about his options. Solomon could not hide the fact that he was always pleased at Don's behavior. Although he would always joke about taking Don as his student, in the last year or so he had been seriously thinking about it.
Don had shown to have quite a talent in forgery and had a willing attitude. His strength in the last 2 months or so have also increase too due to training seriously. He knew that if he did not snatch Don now, in the future many masters would be running to try and get him as their student. Even though Solomon had all these thoughts he was not the forceful type. If Don had other plans, he respects his choices and that would be the end of it.
As Solomon came out of his thoughts and looked back at Don, he saw that Don was still thinking.
"Well...I don't really know what I want to do in the future. I just want to do something that will make everyone around me happy" As soon as Solomon heard this, he felt an arrow go through his heart. 'This kid is so genuine.... If my kid is half as good as this one I think I would be able to rest easy.' Solomon did not show his happiness as he continued to look at don with a straight face.
"hmm hmmm I guess you're still quite young and have a few years to think about it. Before you decide what path you want to go into, you can always come to our shop whenever you want. After all, you are one of the best assistants we have had. Don smiled at the couple when he heard this. He was very grateful that the couple would allow him to work in the shop even though he is not a actual worker.
After chatting for a bit, Don went home to have dinner with his family. Elijah and Mar were both at cloud 9. They spent all day talking about how ready they were for the test but inside, they were both very nervous. Even so, these competitive siblings could not allow the other to see them as weak.
In the last few months they have both been working hard to get stronger, and they have improved explosively in not just skill but also awareness. After they realized how much effort Solomon and his wife had to put in to fix their messes, they started to pay attention to where they are and learned to better control their strength.
Because of this, the poor blacksmith family could finally rest and laze around with their little girl.
That night, the 3 siblings slept over in Elijah's room. If they really pass the exams, this would be one of the last times that Don would get to see them daily. Elijah and Maryline slept in sleeping bags while they let Don take the bed. As it was getting to mid night, Don looked down to see if his siblings were still awake.
"Eli, Mar? Are you guys awake?"
"No I am asleep twerp." Elijah said sarcastically.
"Of course not. " Maryline sighed. Don looked at their faces and could not help but worry. They had worked so hard for this moment and he could tell that the pressure and expectations from everyone was really weighing on their minds.
"Are you... nervous?" Don asked.
"PFFF. Me? The great Elijah? Nervous? ...HAHAHAHAHAH!" Elijah laughed as if Don had said a joke.
"Yeah he must be talking about you because there is no way I would be nervous about something as simple as this. hmm" Maryline acted as if she was above getting nervous. Elijah looked at Maryline with an offended face.
"You're the little runt here, of course he is talking about you. I your father have nothing to fear."
"Why you! Hey Don! You were you talking to?" Maryline asked.
"Yeah tell this that she should just accept your concern." Elijah said as they both turned to Don who was fast asleep.
"Eh!?" Elijah and Mar looked at Don with death rays but he continued to sleep soundly as if his worries where now gone.
Elijah and Mar grumbled as they quickly fell asleep. It seems like they had felt each other's fears behind their cool fronts. It had made them relax and finally allowed them to sleep. Don smiled as he heard the sound of his siblings sleeping soundly.
The next day, they headed off in a carriage with the other boy, Lucas and his mother and Teacher Zen who was at the front handling the horses. Ride to Vernia City was very long and they would only get to Vernia on the last day of the Capricorn cycle.
Since they would be celebrating new years in Vernia City, they had taken extra money with them. When they had told Teacher Zen of their plans for New Year's they were left with a chuckle. The Finch children were shocked as they had never seen Teacher Zen actually laugh before.
"Master are you alright? Have you been out in the sun for too long?" Maryline asked a little concerned. Teacher Zen went back to his calm posture.
"No. I just realized, this would be the first time your family would be living Triaegus. If you think that the New year's festivals will be as simple in Vernia City, then you are greatly mistaken. Even if you don't buy anything, it will be a night like no other. " The Finch family were quite curious as they heard this. They had never bothered to step out of their well so did not know much about the costumes and traditions of other places outside of their area.
Lucas who was sitting beside his mother did not seem to be as clueless. He and his mother had moved around a lot and had once gone to the festival in Vernia city. Although it was not as big as the New year's festivals, The scenery and performances had blown his mind.
After a week of uneventful travel, they had finally made it to Vernia city. The Finch family had seen many large towns before this and had made sure to take the path that was farthest away from Beach town. Once they had gotten to the gates, they could not help but gap in shock. The Gate was even taller than some trees in Evan forest. Once they got to the gate, two Guards walked to their carriage and asked them to hand in their identification card.
Once he verified their identities, collected 1 silver from each child and 2 silver from each adult before allowing them to enter Vernia City.
Once Don has set his eyes on the city he had truly felt how small his humble town really was. There was someone yelling at every corner. Markets and inns filled the street. He could not even count how many people he had passed by in just a minute. 'A Vernia City truly lives up to its name' Don thought.
As the largest source for heavy Armor and Cold weapons in all of Magnolia Kingdom, it would be disappointing if they were any less rowdy. The group of eight did not waste time to find an Inn relatively close to the academy and slept off. After a week of no bed, the inn was a haven for the group.
The next day, Mar, Elijah and Lukas got up earlier than the rest and wore their best fitted outfits. Today was the day, New years and also the day of the Academy Exam. The kids were so nervous that they did not even look around at people carrying ornaments and costumes for the big festival that was happening at night.
It only took an Hour walk for them to reach the Academy. Just as Don had expected it looked stunning. With a coating of blue and white and the aura of a castle, Don could not stop his eyes from twinkling. Even though they had arrived early there was still thousands of children and parents and master waiting in line to get into the school. After a long wait, they finally registered the 3 kids into the test. The adults and Don had also bought tickets so that they could watch them at the physical portion of the test.
Before that, they would have to wait 2 hours for the participants to do the written portion of the exam. Don smiled as he saw the excited faces of the people walking into the School. He prayed that his siblings would pass their test. As he opened his eyes after praying, he noticed a shadow lurking at the top of the School. Although at first he thought that his mind was playing tricks on him, once he noticed that the shadow was moving he realized that it was actually a person standing at the top of the building. As soon as he realized this, the shadow disappeared.
The shadow who had realized that he was being watched quickly changed positions and appeared behind an old man who was wearing a blue and white robe with an insignia of a crescent moon on it.
"What is it Z?" The old man said to the shadowy figure.
"Sir, someone has spotted me." The shadowy figure said with an expression of disbelief. The old man gasped as he heard this, how many years has it been since someone was able to sense Z without his approval.
"Who was it" The old man hurriedly asked.
"Was it a martial arts master? How strong was his aura?" The shadowy figure shook his head as he fast the old man with a complicated look.
"No…. It was a small boy. From what I could sense, he has not even awakened yet..." The old man almost had a heart attack when he heard this.
"WHAT?!"